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Jim Hendry is officially out as Chicago Cubs GM. Assistant GM Randy Bush will take over as interim GM, and Tom Ricketts will speak to the media soon.

It’s been a long road, but as you all should know, this was the right move. I will have more on this later today (I’m remote right now (of freaking course)), but, for now, use the comments to share your thoughts/celebrate. Please also feel free to share news updates.

I will do my best to keep this post updated.

Update: Jim Hendry is addressing the media. Paraphrase: love the Cubs, love the city, we just didn’t win enough games. No hard feelings. Wants to continue to have a good relationship with Ricketts. Hendry is getting emotional. He’s a good guy, just not a good GM.

Update II: A search process for the next GM will commence now.

Update III: Hendry says he was told a month ago, but stayed on to complete the draft (hey, that’s what I said!).

Update IV: Hendry didn’t make deals at the deadline because he’d already been fired. Not to pat my back again, but, I totally called that as the only explanation. Hendry done speaking, Ricketts on around 12:15.

Update V: Ricketts says Hendry is a great guy, but a change was needed. He’s reaching out to industry vets to help him with the GM search. Says new GM will report directly to Ricketts (which suggests no new Director of Baseball Ops). Ricketts is going to try and keep the search quiet.

Update VI: Ricketts wants a GM who is good at development and statistical analysis (but that’s just a part). Very much wants Scouting Director Tim Wilken and Farm Director Oneri Fleita to stay. Will recommend them to new GM.

I am genuinely impressed with how Ricketts handled this. I will be the first to admit that there have been a few times I’ve questioned his perceived decision-making but this was a class way to handle it. By all accounts people think very highly of Hendry as a person. Ricketts could have gone either way: not wanted to fire the nice guy or on the other hand caved to mounting fan displeasure and canned Hendry and used it as a soapbox. He did neither and really let Hendry leave with dignity from a place that seems to sincerely appreciate his efforts. There seems to have been a thought out plan for each step taking into account the non-waiver deadline, draft, etc. and IMO couldn’t have been handled with more class. I am very excited for this organization going forward with Ricketts (and just as importantly without Hendry).

KB

Ricketts certainly handled it with class. But if he’d done this a month ago, we would have some sparkling young prospects in our system, instead of Byrd, Pena, etc.

jh

And who would’ve made those moves? Assistant GM Bush (Hendry Jr.), a currently unemployed GM candidate, someone under contract elsewhere, Kenney the non-baseball president, Ricketts himself? Let’s not pretend there was someone who could’ve stepped in to evaluate the moves and pulled off a great trade deadline. It would’ve been great to unload the guys you mentioned but there’s more to it than fire Hendry and then trade a bunch of people.

Toosh

Hendry still could have been more active before July 31st. Unless he was ordered not to be. Bush certainly won’t make any moves before the end of this month. He’ll be gone too before too long. He’s just keeping the seat warm. Meanwhile, all the players that Hendry could have traded are still clogging up the current roster.

jh

Yea, it’s impossible to know if he was told to hold (or saw the writing) and did almost nothing even prior to July 31. I don’t disagree that it’s a shame they weren’t moved, I just don’t think there was any way to unseat Hendry and then make educated moves in July. If you tell him he’s being let go prior to the deadline and then let him trade you are rolling the dice. You don’t tell him and let him trade you run the risk he will gut the system (even more?) to buy more time. There really wasn’t a great solution regardless this late in the season. I am just glad Ricketts pulled the trigger. We may have had a dreadful trade deadline but at least they came through in the draft. We could be sitting here with after a strong trade deadline/ extended winning streak watching a rejuvinated sense of “one tweak away” looking at another year and a half of Hendry. New day.

Laura

Isn’t the day Hendry was told he was getting the boot right around the time that Ricketts was spotted on the Metra with his head in his hands?

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

I’ve started looking back through older posts to see what I can line up with the timing.

Jeff

The pic surface on the 26th, so it’s from the same time period.

CubFan Paul

wow@193 comments here!! must be a record

RoughRiider

Hendry, I believe, did his best and we should all applaud the man if not the effort. The Cubs still haven’t gotten the brass ring and in the end Hendry didn’t get it done. The job of GM for the Cubs is a tremendous responsibility and opportunity. I hope that the owners get it right this time and get a GM who will be around for years to come and builds a strong development system that continually brings players through the system that the fans can identify with and rejoice in the culmination of a World Series win. Jim, I wish you well and I’m sorry that you weren’t the one to get us there. I wish you well in your future. I believe history will be kinder to you than things look now. Thank you for your efforts.

CubFan Paul

hendry said it in early july “STAGNANT SPENDING”. he put the blame Then on Ownership, now he’s the GOAT

..the budget/his resources have been LIMITED/CUTTOFF – (Fact!) since after the 2008 season; everyone who knows the facts/numbers/truth knows this season (pitiful) isnt his fault …only $10-$15mil in money to spend after the payroll went DOWN a.g.a.i.n.

– he got Garza, Wood, & Pena w/ limited resources last winter & obviously it wasnt enough. shoulda got Berkman @$8mil, not a .198 hitter for $10mil, but i digress ..if not for the “3 Owner Drama” of the Cubs of *Recent* past, Hendry might be known as the best GM in recent history in all of baseball …..seriously

bash me, talk shit, ..yes i’ve been drinking but This is the truth ..the recent decline of the team (last 3yrs) is because Hendry WAS NOT allowed to add pieces to the depreciating product on the field like most smart ownership groups would have allowed ..*Fact* this explains ALL the $400k players on the field: Barney, Cashner, montenez, leMahieu, campana, colvin, freakin/mutha f’n deWitt, lopez, davis &ortiz ..(the last 3 are $900K players)

..im drunk & losing concentration but Hendry was Not the problem, as in every GM makes a mistake every now & then and being in a MAJOR MARKET he hasnt been able to cover them up recently because of “STAGNANT SPENDING” (as he put it in early july, clearly taking a shot at Ricketts & the previous owners)

read between the lines

ron

I completely disagree, Hendry had to pay the price for bad contracts. Teams don’t continually increase their payroll. Even the yankee’s payroll has dropped the last 3 years. All the $400K players is because he spent too much on too few. You can’t always have a blank check even the federal government has found that out.

MichiganGoat

Leave the goats out of this

Dan

Andrew Friedman or bust!

Lou

Would be nice but with Crane Kinney still around, don’t know about it?

chris margetis

Hendry summed it up in his press conference. The Cubs were close to kicking down the wall and he made some moves to try to do that, that wound up hurting them in the long run. When you are the GM of the Cubs, and you have a shot at a WS, that’s what you do, when you have the chance, you go for broke.

JIm

Good Start, but there are other that have to go ! Kenney, Quady, and dozen overpaid players.

http://www.bobbyfunzone.com bobbyd

Wow, 208 (+1) responses.

If I didn’t know better I’d think this was a blog thread from Obstructed View (dying laughing).

BAMF

I loved Rickett’s “culture of accountability” comment. You put crap on the field like you did this year, even with limited spending and restrictions, you got to go. It’s as simple as that. The position is not about being a nice guy or everyone’s buddy. I think that we can all agree Hendry is a class act, but business is about results. That’s why he made the big bucks while in office…these positions are historically short on average anyways. He went all in on the back loaded contracts he drew up and went bust. If you make a bad bet in Vegas they don’t give you your money back…although Ricketts did give Hendry a means of redeem himself the last 2 years, limited as it may have been. I have to commend Ricketts and Hendry both on the way this situation played out…although the timing definitely could have been better. I have to admit that I underestimated Ricketts, he was sitting in the weeds the whole time, waiting to act on what we were all thinking. Up until today, I would have said that a new coach, GM, or president would have been wishful thinking…now 1/3 of it’s true. If nothing else, this has given me hope in a season with so few positives.

Either way, the only one sad about this is Jim Hendry and the other dominoes still waiting fall. It’s a great day and new beginning for Cubs baseball!

dreese

I AM SOOO EXCITED!!! I just got back from vegas and lost $800 there and its the first day of classes but I couldnt be happier!!!! I always thought Ricketts knew what he was doing but I had no proff but now I do! SOOO EXCITED!!!!

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